2016 Ford Focus RS vs. 2015 Subaru WRX STI, 2016 Volkswagen Golf R

first zox's review

Comparison Tests

From the May 2016 issue

Europe gave us the hot hatchback and so we wanted to return the favor, choosing the Continent for our first comparison of the eagerly awaited Ford Focus RS. We took a car from the media launch in Valencia, Spain, and headed over the border to France, enabling us to use both Michelin’s test track at Salon-de-Provence and some of the region’s more spectacular mountain roads. This is where we find out if this four-wheel-drive superhero can possibly live up to the hype that’s been heaped on its bulging shoulders.

This is also a welcome chance to confirm many of the stereotypes we hold so dear about France and the French, none of which is truer than the national characteristic for double standards. This is the European country that whines loudest about American cultural imperialism, yet every McDonald’s franchise here is packed six deep. And during our visit, it was reported that the former French ­government minister responsible for fighting tax evasion had just gone on trial for tax evasion. Yet perhaps the greatest proof of Gallic hypocrisy came in the warmth of the ­welcome we received and the polite interest that the natives, most of whom drive underpowered diesels, expressed in our relatively exotic trio. What has happened to France’s fabled snobbishness?

On paper, the RS arrives with a clear advantage. Its 2.3-liter engine, based on the one in the Mustang EcoBoost, is tuned to deliver 350 horsepower. It sends this effort roadward through a transmission system smart enough to have earned its own doctorate, with separate electronically controlled clutches distributing torque to each rear wheel. At $36,605 before options, it’s more than twice the price of a basic Focus S sedan. And although standard equipment includes a touchscreen interface, Recaro sport seats, and keyless entry, there’s still plenty of potential to add to that. Our car emerged from the calculator at $40,085 as tested.

Ridiculous, maybe, but that’s what you have to spend in this segment. TheVolkswagen Golf R costs an almost identical $36,470 in base four-door manual form, and $40,010 with options. With a 292-hp version of Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four, it’s down on power compared with the RS and has a less advanced Haldex four-wheel-drive system that can’t match the Ford’s clever torque biasing. The R is the only car here available with an automatic option—Volkswagen’s familiar six-speed dual-clutch DSG—but resisting it, as we would urge you to, saves $1100 and 80 pounds.

Finally, an outlier: the Subaru WRX STI, distinguished from the others by the fact that it’s a sedan rather than a hatchback, and because Subaru has somehow managed to supply us with a U.S.-spec car on Illinois dealer tags. With no front license plate of any kind, it should make any encounter with les gendarmesinteresting. The WRX shares the same mechanical ­layout that Subaru has championed for decades, as if it were presented to them by the Almighty on carved tablets. A turbocharged flat-four supplies power to all ­corners through a center differential with front-to-rear adjustable torque bias on the STI, and with limited-slip diffs at each end. For $35,490 to start, it’s slightly cheaper than the others, but a comprehensive options workout makes it the priciest car here when ­sampled, as they say in France, a la carte.

The Haute and the Hatch

France is the home of gastronomy, so while in Provence we sampled some of the local cuisine:

• McDonald’s, Salon-de-Provence

McDonald’s corporate standards trump nationalistic fashion sense. Both the sommelier/cashier and the bustling maitre d’ wear the team uniform: garish top, black pants a few inches too short, black shoes, white socks. The sommelier recommends the Coke Light, vintage unknown. Fondue and mushrooms on the “American Winter” menu suggest a limited understanding of U.S. dining customs.

• Presto Pizza, Salon-de-Provence

Recommended to us by the fact that it is open late. The proprietor resembles Tony Danza and has sired at least 50 percent of his staff. Language difficulties mean we aren’t entirely sure what we order—cheval and langue de boeuf sounded particularly delicious.

• Boulangerie, Patisserie Banette Mazan, Mazan

France’s restaurants are all fermé for Sunday lunch. The entire remaining stock of this small bakery consists of a single sausage roll served au froid avec hauteur.

• McDonald’s, Salon-de-Provence (again)

Our fare the first time was suspiciously edible, so we returned unannounced. We try the burger fromage pané et fondant and the McWrap fromage pané. The former is a fried cheese log on a bun; the latter is a cheese log in a wrap. Not even French McDonald’s does cheese logs to equal our gold standard, Sysco. Attempts to order a Royale with Cheese are met with blank stares, as is our inquiry, “English, motherfker! Do you speak it?!”